Felt shrinking



April 14, 1925. 1,533,345

i H. M. SMITH FELT SHRINKING Filed June 8, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 5y Mey 'April 14, 192s. 11,533,345

'- f H. M. SMITH FELT SHRINKING -Filedf June s, 192; z sheets-sheet 2 www@ Patented Apr. 14, 1925o tlNlTED STT'ES PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT MILLS SMITH, OF FARMINGTON, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED STATES HAT MACHINERY CORPORATION, F RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, A CORPORA- TION OF VIRGINIA.

Application Aflled .Tune 8,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, HERBERT MILLS lSMrrrr, a citizen of the United States, residing in Farmington, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Felt Shrinking, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the manufacture of hats and other articles of felt, and particularly to the shrinking of the material.

Preparatory to shrinking, the fur is blown upon a perforated cone, making a soft, loose, oversize, conical bat. This is dipped into hot water, whereby it issomewhat matted and rendered capable of being handled without tearing. The bat, in a dat condition, is then subjected to shrinking operations, whereby a felt cone is pro- 2@ duced substantially smaller than the original height and size; the thickness of the felt being correspondingly increased.

lThe shrinking has usually beeneflected by repeatedly rolling up the flat bat while E wet and hot, the bat being usually unfolded and refolded, and turned or crozed, between rolling operations.' The resulting shrinkage is due partly to the use of the hot water and partly to kneading or press- *50 ing operations upon the rolled-up bat, the

fibers of the fur becoming decussated or interlaced by the repeated kneading actions, which have the effect upon the individual ber of urging it forward, root foremost. Retrograde movement of the fiber is prevented by microscopic barbs that grow on its sides, which are usually opened up by a preliminary treatment with nitrate of mercury. Several bats are usually rolled 40 together in a burlap blanket for kneading operations. During the process of shrink` ing, measurements are taken of the bat and the direction of rolling is frequently changed in order to check any tendency of the bat to shrink disproportionately, or in a direction not desired. f

After the shrinking of the bat has been advanced by these methods, it is usually subjected to stronger kneading operations of o a similar nature, which forcibly continue the vermicular motionsw of the interlaced fibers, further shrinking the bat. The increased pressure is usually secured by FELT SHRINKING.

1921. Serial No. 475,864.

squeezing the rolled-up bat inl a set of relyolving hard rollers of suitable configura- These various operations call for high skill, and are slow, laborious and expensive. Moreover, there is a waste of fur because of the repeated wrapping and unwrapping, rolling and kneading, this waste in the aggregate involving a serious loss.

One of the main objects of the invention is to simplify, expedite and reduce the cost of the shrinkage of the bat, and also to reduce the waste of fur. ln place of kneading the bat by rolling it up in a blanket and applying pressure to a few Spots in the roll or along a line, the present invention provides for kneading the bat at a multiplicity of points simultaneously, preferably while the bat is in a dat or unrolled condition. This novel operation is effected by the use of a multiplicity of yielding projections, points or knuckles, which may be closely spaced, and which preferably conist of edges, ridges or projections of rub- A support is covered thickly with these small elastic projections or knuckles, and is then placed upon the bat, with the array of elastic knuckles in contact with the bat to be felted, the bat lying upon a bed, and then the support is manipulated to knead the bat. This kueading action may be produced by moving the support to and fro, as shown by the double-pointed arrow, Figure 4, while the bat is wet with scalding water. The extent of movement may be as slight as T13 of an inch at the early part of the shrinking operation, but may be increased as the ybat hardens into a felted fabric. The bat may be dipped in scalding water, or the scalding water may be poured over the bat. ln the beginning, when the bat isdelicate, very gentle pressure is applied to the kneader, and, as the fabric grows in strength, greater and greaterpressure is put upon the kneader, to produce a strongly felted fabric. From time to time the kneader may be raised and the bat lifted od and turned to Croze the bat, that is, to prevent matting the fur together at the edges.

The' multiplicity of yieldin highl elastic knuckles causes the fur bers to felted together by reason of the vibratory motion and pressure applied to:` said knuckles; this action may be regarded as a, sort of kneading process, producing vermicular advances of the individual fibers, and causing the fur to felt together rapidly. As the fibers work or adjust together closer and closer, and the bat shrinks more and more and grows harder and harder, greater pressure may be applied, causing the fur to be formed into a more closely-felted fabric. In some cases, the fur may be blown more thickly upon a cone much reduced in size, forming a bat which may then be rapidly shrunken by the present improvements to the required size, whereby the shrinking operations are shortened and expense reduced and promptness secured.

The kneader may be faced with yielding soft knuckles by arranging thereon a series 4of vulcanized soft rubber strands, these strands preferably occupying trans-verse grooves in the kneader, and each one may be twisted so as to provide a` great number of yielding points or knuckles in 'a relatively small area. Tfhe closely-spaced series of soft rubber knuckles is not limited to a flat kneader, but lmay be applied to a pressing or kneading member of any other form.

In carrymg out the invention in another form, the bat may be placed between two of the described kneaders, and then by vibrating one of the kneaders, in the manner explained, the bat will be felted more rapidly.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

' In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a face plan of a kneading apparatus embodying, in one form, certain eatures of the present improvements.

Figure 2 is a side view of the same.

Figure 3 is a cross-section, taken about on the line 3 3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 shows the Figure 1 apparatus in plan, and illustrates the same in kneading position upon a bat which lies under it upon a bed.

Figure 5 is a side View of the devices illustrated at Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary enlarged view of an elastic strand which has a twisted surface to produce a m-ultiplicity of kneading knuckles.

Figure 7 is a side view similar to Figure 5, but showing the bedin the form of a kneading apparatus.

Figure 8 shows .one form of roll provided with twisted surface members extending longitudinally thereof, and forming a mul titude of yielding lmuckles to work upon an open bat which is placed upon a conical support.

Figure 9 shows other forms of rolls for working upon a. bat Supported as at .Figure Maase@ f8; these rolls being also provided with a multiplicity of yielding knuckles.

Figure 1() illustrates a bat laid out fiat which is to be shrunken.

Figure 11 is an edge view of the bat of Figure 10.

s seen at Figures 4 and 5, the conical bat 20 may be laid in fiat or collapsed condition upon a bed 21 or upon a burlap blanket laid thereon. One form of kneading apparatus or device is designated as 22, the under or working face of which is crossed by a series of elastic strands 23, all of which may be twisted, as at 24, and may lie with in substantially parallel transverse grooves 25, the grooves being so spaced apart that the working face of the kneader may be closely covered by the elastic strands. The strands may be secured by inserting their ends 26 in holes 27, and wedges 28 may be driven into the holes to fasten the ends 26. The grooves are relatively shallow, so that the bands lying therein will protrude from the working face of the kneader 22, as seen at Figure 2. Thus, these bands taken together form a kneading surface which is elastic throughout, and which is composed of a great multiplicity of closely-spaced kneading points, projections or knuckles which may be relatively soft, and highly elastic, and yield both vertically and in lateral direction. To limit the rolling of the strands, ythere may be employed sta-ples 29, driven over the strands, as at Figure 3.

The kneader, having been laid upon the bat `20, which is hot and'moist, may be stirred or operated repeatedly to and fro, or vibrated, by means of a pair of handles 30, to agitate the bat, 4the movement being mainly in a direction transverse to the strands or riiiies 23. The movement of the kneader is slight, say about a sixteenth of an inch at the beginning, and the vibrations may be made rapidly. gentle downward pressure being applied. The multiplicity of yielding projections causes the fur fibers to be felted together by the vibratory motion applied to the knuckles, which constitutes a. sort of kneading process, and

the resultl of this operation, continued in this manner, is that the bat is rapidly shrunken and properly felted, and waste of fur is reduced. The kneader may be frequently lifted and placed in a new position on the bat, and, as the shrinking proceeds,

the bat may be frequently taken olf the.

strands may be vulcanized in 'the twisted shape. The kneading surface may be vulcanized in form, in a continuous piece, thus forming a complete kneader. The successive strands may have their surfaces twisted alternately in right-hand and lefthand direction. It will be seen that each projecting knuckle 'is yieldingly supported. The knuckles may yield not only up and down, but also forward and back as well as to the left and right. AThe elastic knuckles may be placed at regular or irregular interva s.

At Figure 7 the bed 32 may be a counterpartl of the kneader 22, and may be placed with the elastic knuckles 23 uppermost, so that the bat'20 will rest upon said knuckles 23 and will be kneaded between said knuckles and those on the under side of the kneader 22, which is operated in the manner already Y described. by stirring it or repeatedly working it forwardly and backwardly a short distance. This effects more rapidly an efficient felting of the bat.

The kneader may have other forms than a flat board. For example, atA Figure 8 the elastic knuckles 23 are secured upon a conical roller, being arranged on the surface o-f the roller, the latter being carried upon a shaft 34, and running upon the surface of an opened conical bat 35' supported upon a conical mandrel 36. The elastic knuckles may be secured upon other forms of rollers, as, for example, the concave pointed roll 37, and the slightly concave roll 38, at Figure 9.

In this invention I have described means to carry out a method of shrinking bats, but I improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. Shrinking means formed to act upon a fur-bat in fiat unrolled condition, comprising a kneading member having a fiat kneading surface provided with a multiplicity of soft yieldingr knuckles and placed together in close proximity, said surface adapted to engage fiatwisc against a flat bat, and a second kneading member cocperative with saidirst kneading member for repeatedly sinking the knuckles directly into the face of the flat bat and relieving the pressure to knead and shrink the bat throughout while it is held by one of said kneading members fiatwise against the other one.

2. Shrinking means formed to act upon a fur-bat in Hat condition, comprising a pair of flat kneading members having flat opposed surfaces, each of said opposed surfaces being provided with a multiplicity of yielding knuckles of vulcanized soft rubber placed together in close proximity, said members being movable to and fro, relative to each other.

3. The combination with a bed upon which a bat is adapted to be placed in a fiat con dition, of a kneader for relative movement to and vfro upon.the bat for shrinking the hat under pressure, said kneader having a kneading surface comprising a multiplicity of yielding knuckles, said knuckles consisting of ridges formed by twisting rubber strands.

4. Shrinking apparatus formed to act upon a bat in unrolled condition and comprising a support adapted to support a bat in unrolled condition, and a kneading member provided with a surface adapted to engage said bat while supported on said support, said last mentioned surface having a multiplicity of yielding knuckles packed together in close proximity and formed of twisted rubber bands.

HERBERT MILLS SMITH. Witnesses:

LLLLIAN M. TAYLOR, MARGARET T. DENNIS. 

